Climbing device



B. F. WELLS. cumsms DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED. JULY 6. I9l8.

Patented June 24, 1919.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WELLS, OF LOVELAND, COLORADO.

oLIMnING nnivron.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. June 24, 1919.

Application filed July 6, 1918. Serial No. 243,626.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IVnLLs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lovelan'd, in the county of Larimer and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Climbing Devices, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ladders or structures for like purposes, and particularly to that class of devices in which a standard is provided, and means operating on the standard whereby the person climbing the ladder may be elevated by a step by step movement of a support upon which the person is carried.

The general object of this invention is the provision of a very simple ladder of this construction having thereon a seat or body rest and a foot rest, and so constructed that when pressure is applied upon the foot rest, the footrest engages with the ladder against downward movement and the seat may be raised and that then upon pressure being applied downward upon the seat rest, the foot rest may be raised and thus the operator move upward on the ladder by a step by step motion, leaving both hands free.

A further object is to provide a construction of this character having few parts and these easily assembled and which may be firmly supported in an upwardly inclined position.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. 7

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved ladder;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the standard, the saddle and the foot piece;

gig. 3 is a top plan view of the foot piece; an

Fig. t is a top plan view of the saddle or seat rest.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that my improved ladder consists of a standard 10, which at its lower end is firmly attached to a base comprising the outwardly and downwardly extending members 11 attached to the standard 10 by means of the braces 12 which are nailed, bolted, or otherwise rigidly attached to the standard. One

face of the standard is formed with a series of indentations 14, these indentations const tutmg ratchet teeth spaced at uniform dlstances apart, the lower end of each indentation providing a shoulder.

Operating on the standard 10 and having free sliding movement thereon is the seat rest 15 which has a passage 16 through it to embrace the standard. One end wall of the passage 16 is downwardly and outwardly inclined as at 17 and this end wall. 1s provided with the inwardly projecting tooth 18 whichis somewhat downwardly inclined. The seat 19 is mounted upon the rest 15 in any suitable manner and attached to the rest 15 and to the seat is a strap 20 designed to be passed over the shoulder of an operator, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

It will be obvious now that when the operator rests his full weight upon the seat 19 that the rest 15 will be disposed in a horizontal plane, the wall 17 will rest against the inclined toothed face of the standard 10, and that the tooth 18 will enter one of the indentations let and bear upon the lower wall thereof and thus the seat rest be held from any downward movement.

Ooactin r with the seat rest 15 is the foot rest 21. This also is formed with a centrally disposed passage 22 through which the. standard 10 passes, and one end wall of this passage is at right angles to the upper and lower faces of the foot rest while the other end wall 23 is inclined upward and outward. The first named end wall 21 is provided with a tooth 25 which engages the indentations 14 when the opposite end of the foot rest is forced downward by pressure on the transverse bar 26. A second transverse bar 27 is attached to the upper face of the foot rest above the bar 26 and is for the purpose of permitting the operator to raise this end of the foot rest so as to cant it to a position to disengage the tooth 25 from the recesses 14: and permit the operator to lift the foot rest upward to a new position.

In order to prevent any lateral movement of the standard 10 when in position, I preferably attach to the upper end of the stand ard the guy wires 28 and preferably these guy wires are attached to a cap 29 fitting over'the upper end of the standard and formed with eyes 30 to which the guy wires are attached, this cap being also formed and body with sockets 31 which extend downward and outward at an inclination to the standard to receive braces 32 which are used when the standard cannot'be rested against a wall or like object, these braces 32 together with the standard forming a tripod. I do not wish to be limited to any particular construction for this purpose, however.

lVhile the foot rest and seat rest may be made of any suitable material and in any suitable manner, I preferably construct each rest of two sections of wood connected. by longitudinal metallic bars bolted to the wood sections as illustrated in Fig. 3. Neither do I wish to be limited to the particular construction of the base illustrated in the drawings, as this may be varied in many ways.

In operation, the user seats himself on the seat 19, thus causing the seatrest 15 to operatively engage the standard so that the person is fully supported on the seat rest. His feet rest upon the cross bar 26 of the foot rest which is thus canted so that the pin 24; enters one of the notches or indentations 14 in the standard. Now when it is desired to move up the ladder, the user rises to a standing position and in thus rising the strap 20 lifts the seat rest upward to a new position. The user again seats himself and draws his feet upward against the up per bar 27, thus canting the foot rest so as to release the pin 25 from its engagement with the recess 1st and then lifts upward on this bar dragging the foot rest up to a new position. Downward pressure on the cross bar 26 will now look the foot rest and the seat rest may be again raised; .By this means the operator may progress step by step up the standard. The descent is made by first releasing the foot rest and pushing it down and engaging and then releasing the saddle and allowing it to descend to a new position.

I claim 1. A ladder of the character described comprising a standard having ratchet teeth, a foot rest and a seat rest embracing the standard and movable along it, the seat rest being provided with means whereby it may be operatively connected to the body of the user, and both of said rests being provided with means whereby they may be detachably engaged with said ratchet teeth.

2. A ladder of the character described comprising -a standard, a foot rest and a seat rest embracing the standard. and movable therealong independently of each other and adapted when shifted in one "position by the operator to be raised or lowered on the standard but when shifted to another position to be held against downward movement on the standard, the foot rest and seat rest being formed with means whereby they may be operatively engaged with the feet of the operator respectively.

it with the standard 3. A ladder of the character described-- comprising a standard having ratchet indentations on one face, a seat rest slidably mounted upon the standard and having an opening through which the standard passes, the opening being longer than the depth of the standard and one wall of said openlng being formed with a tooth to engage said indentations and having a seat projecting out at one end, means for detachably connecting the seat rest to the operators body, and a foot rest having an opening therethrough for the passage of the standard, the opening being larger than'the depth of the standard and having a tooth engageable with said indentations when the foot rest is actuated in one direction, and means engageable by the operators feet to cant the foot rest into or out of operative engagement with the standard.

4. A ladder of the character described comprising a standard having ratchet indentations upon one face, a seat rest slidable on the standard and having an opening therethrough, through which the standard passes,-that wall of the opening confronting the indented face of the standard being inclined downward and outward and being provided adjacent itslower end with an inwardly extending tooth, this end of the seat rest being provided with an outwardly projecting seat, the seat rest having a strap whereby it may be engaged with the body of an operator, a foot rest disposed below the seat rest and slidably mounted upon the standard and having an opening through which the standard passes, that wall of this opening confronting the indented face of the standard being in a plane at right angles to the upper face of the foot rest and hav ing a tooth at its upper end engageable in the indentations of the standard, the opposite end of the foot rest'having upper and lower cross bars.

' 5. A ladder of the character described comprising a standard having ratchet indentations upon one face, a seat rest slidable on the standard and having an opening therethrough, through which the standard passes, that wallof the opening confronting the indented face of the standard being inclined downward and outward and being provided adjacent its lower end with an inwardly eX- tending tooth, this end of the seat rest being provided with an outwardly projecting seat, the seat rest having a strap whereby it may engage with the body of an operator, a foot rest disposed below the seat rest and slid ably mounted upon thestand-ard and having an opening through which the standard passes, that wall of this opening confronting the indented face of the standard being in a plane at right angles to the upper face of the foot rest and having a tooth at its upper end engageable in the indentations of the standard, the opposite end of the foot rest In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my having upper and lower cross bars, the lower signature in the presence of two witnesses. end of the standard being provided with a BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WELLS.

base and the upper end having means there- Witnesses: 5 0n whereby it may be connected to braclng LOUIS J. BAGHOFOKE, members. FRANCIS MORTON.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G." 

